Biography

Jan Morgen was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1953 and grew up in Skokie, Illinois. She went to Niles East High School, where she was involved with their art department. After graduating in 1971, she spent her first year of college at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she stayed 1 year before transferring to Philadelphia College of Art. Morgen graduated in 1975 with a BFA in painting. She continues to read, travel and do her work.

Artist Statement

I paint on the ground. Paper mounted onto the wood. Layer- mark-scrape-paint. Layer-mark-scar. Building its history, like mine. The process unfolds and becomes the work, alert in the moment. Breath-pause. Capturing mistakes and discovery. The marks that came before creates what’s now. On and on. No real beginning or end, yet they are all part of each other and create the whole. Showing down to hear within, I have found my voice. Guidance and divine forces move me to inner clarity. I listen. My paintings speak of an understanding from a deep, mossy place within me—life, forgiveness, connectedness, purpose.